Okay - I finally broke down and got a dedicated server. All mine. MINE I SAY!
I got the cheapest plan CrystalTech offers (a Celeron 1.8GHz, 512 meg of RAM, 80 Gig disk, shared SQL Server access and lots of extras - $85/month with 6 IP addresses). They do essentially nothing on the server - it's up, it's yours, deal. The box is primarily an Email and Web Server but will also be doing light FTP and, perhaps later, some (very) light NNTP. The box is Windows 2003 Standard edition and configured via Remote Desktop. I can install anything I can download to it myself and am completely responsible for management of the box (patches, updates, etc). So I've spent the last week configuring and am getting ready to opener'up! Just getting nervous about things since I've never managed an (intentionally) public server. So I've: +) Activated the Windows Firewall. I let it configure itself. Wise? Should I invest in another product (budget's pretty tight as it is...)? +) Bought and installed Trend Micro Client/Server SMB anti-Virus suite. This is the recommended product to use with my Mail Server. I've never used it before but most virus software is HUGELY expensive to install on servers - this wasn't that bad. +) I populated by my DNS (using the Windows 2003 DNS server). The recommendation from CystalTech is to use the same box as both primary and secondary. I'm not too comfortable with that but so far others don't seem to have any problems with it... although I could keep doing DNS at my registrar it's a HUGE pain the ass (very slow web interface and I'm managing 17 domains which need 5-7 entries each). +) Installed my mail server (SmarterMail - a 50 site license is provided with the dedicated server). I configured it with the anti-virus software. I set up each of my domains and created "postmaster" accounts for all of them. +) Installed my Stats server (SmarterStats - a 50 site license is provided with the dedicated server). I set up each of my domains. +) Configured the provided FTP Server: Serv-U FTP (I've never used it before... but CrystalTech seems to shy away from the IIS FTP server). I only configured one "Admin" account and no anonymous access (for now at least). +) Installed CF MX 7 Pro (can't afford enterprise... couldn't afford Pro for that matter either but I won it at a show). I've not yet installed any patches or hotfixes (but I plan to today - at least the new database drivers). +) Set up IIS - all my sites and hostnames (all the sites are sharing a single IP address ). What am I missing? Anything that I need to beef up beyond the selected options or built-in tool? I feel like I'm missing something huge and don't want to get pwn3d the first day out. ;^) Thanks, Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| All-in-one: antivirus, antispam, firewall for your PC and PDA. Buy Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=60 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:174116 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
